


Things Left Unsaid

by DalishGrey



Series: The Redacted Files [12]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Close Calls, F/M, Mars, Mirror Universe, Non-spectre Shepard, Spectre Kaidan, Words Unsaid, can't lose her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 01:16:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6136362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DalishGrey/pseuds/DalishGrey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing ever went according to plan. He had to change that. Kaidan Alenko was the first human Spectre, the Saviour of the Citadel, the 'traitor' and now the Galaxy's only hope at defeating the Reapers.</p><p>But if there was one thing he wasn't expecting...it was for Athena Shepard to be thrown into his life....and to nearly lose her...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things Left Unsaid

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of character-swapping for a drabble challenge :)  
> It's fairly simple, but here you go haha :)
> 
> I welcome all feedback!

Fire licked at her boots as she sauntered through the wreckage, pulling Liara to her feet with a staggered reach. The Asari stumbled, but regained her footing and Kaidan turned away from the scene.

"Normandy, requesting an evac asap," he barked into his headpiece, eager to get out of the way of the oncoming storm. The air was bitter, whipping at his armour, scrapping the metal with languid, sand-filled strokes. 

A subtle whir seeped into the air and he snapped his head to the origin.

Shepard cried out as a metallic hand gripped at her throat, pressing into her windpipe through the seemingly feeble confines of her armour. Her biotics flared for a single moment, silenced as the metallic _woman_ tightened her grip.

"How should I proceed?" It's voice was just as hollow as the gaping sockets of the now void eyes, yet it held a human quality that made Kaidan's skin crawl and Shepard shudder.

A quiet voice echoed from it's head piece.

" _Dispose of her._ " The finality of it made Shepard thrash and try to escape her assailants clamp-like grip, her legs kicking with a fading strength.  
  
Kaidan picked up his pace and tried to run to her aid, but was momentarily severed from Shepard by the sudden roar of flame in front of him. His heart pounded in his chest as the world bled into slow-motion.

The thing walked closer to the shuttle.

A deafening ring of metal on metal filled the air as _she_ took Shepard by the visor and, without hesitation, began to repeatedly slam her into the side of the burning debris. Shepard's pained cries were cut short as, with one final crunch, she dropped to the floor. She lay in a mass of armour and limp limbs, unmoving aside from the shaky heave of her chest.

Sand and smoke swarmed into his senses, his eyes fixated on the unconscious woman. A blur of black and silver caught his sight, as the Cerberus bot turned it's attention to him. It moved with a fluid lethality that would have scared most, but Kaidan did nothing more than draw his weapon and empty the clip into it's torso. The loud fizzle of it's electronics came to an abrupt end as it crashed to the floor, void of all finesse it may have once possessed.

It took a moment for reality to flood into view.

"Shepard!" He vaulted the crate and ran as fast as his heavily-armoured boots would carry him. "Vega, get that thing onto the Normandy, tell them we've got wounded!"

Kaidan was at her side in mere moments, his heartbeat thundering in his ears. Her visor was on the verge of shattering, splattered with blood as she drew a raspy breath.

"It's okay 'Thena, I got you," his voice was near a whisper, but it held an affection he had tried to suppress. He wouldn't lose her...he couldn't...

*****

She was so still. Stripped of her armour as she lay on the hospital bed. Her ivory skin was tainted by patches of purple and red, blood still stained her lips and he wasn't sure she'd make it with every stuttering breath.

He wanted to run his fingers through the long, silky chocolate waves of her hair. He wanted to press his lips to hers and tell her it'd be okay, but he couldn't guarantee she would be...

_'Dammit Kai! It's Shepard for fuck's sake....she'll be okay'_

His brow furrowed and he threaded his fingers in hers as he drew closer to her bed. Her amp had been rattled, potentially damaged, she had several broken ribs and a fractured skull. Yet she still breathed, she still pushed through it and refused to let it beat her.

Kaidan didn't know what he'd do if he ever did lose her. After Ilos, his death...Horizon...he couldn't bare the thought of even considering letting her go without telling her how he felt.

"You need to get better Shepard, you're a bloody brilliant soldier, we need you.... _I_ need you," he sighed, his heart yearning in his chest, trying to make him say the three words that were, to him, irrevocable. Kaidan pressed his lips to her knuckles, inhaling the scent of medi-gel mixed with sweat and her perfume. 

' _Just tell her Kai...tell her you love her!_ '

He sighed with exasperation, feeling the words slip away from him.

"That's an order."


End file.
